Eric Young Talks Sanity Not Working Out In WWE, Why He Stopped Working As A Producer

Eric Young has had a very long career dating back to 1998. In an interview with NewsChannel 5, Young was asked about how he got started in pro wrestling.

"I started wrestling locally," Young said. "I moved away [after high school], went to a wrestling school. Probably about six months after that I had my first match at Benton Harbor, Michigan. That would have been October 14, 1998 so it's a long time ago, been doing it a long time."

Young went on to talk about the wrestling schools he contacted.

"You network. You meet people. This is before the Internet existed but it was very expensive. It definitely wasn't like what it is now," Young said. "Wrestling companies weren't online because there was no use for it. I found [wrestling schools] through magazines. I called Al Snow's out of Ohio. I sent a letter to the WWE. They never responded, still got to talk to somebody about that."

Young eventually got a call back, and he talked about what he learned from his teachers at the wrestling school he joined.

"I sent letters everywhere. A couple of the schools got back to me," Young said. "Monster Factory out of New Jersey got back to me, but I ended up finding a pretty decent school. [It] was affiliated the Hart brothers which was a bit of a wishy-washy situation. I don't think they really were, but Carl LeDuc, the bald French guy from the Bret Hart Wrestling with Shadows documentary, that guy trained me and Waddle Von Erich who was the WWWF legend was there. He couldn't do any of the physical stuff. He was very old at the time but [he taught] a lot of the mental side of wrestling and psychology and about what a crowd wants and what they need and learning how to react off of that."

Young signed with WWE in 2016, taking a part in NXT, but he credits TNA for getting him to WWE. Young expressed his gratitude to his former employer for fulfilling a dream.

"I was hired through Triple H and Steven Regal, went to NXT. I was allowed to stay here [Nashville]. I wasn't asked to move. I just did television and road shows had a great run there, loved my time there. If I'm being completely honest, it rekindled my fire for wrestling," Young said. "I think if you're at any place long enough or doing one thing long enough, it gets stale. It doesn't matter what it is. I was with TNA wrestling for over 12 years, and I owe them everything. They employed me for 12 years. I lived a good life. I traveled the world, entertained millions of people all over the place. I don't get to go to WWE to fulfill my dream if it wasn't for them, and I owe them a lot."

Young's current role in WWE has been sporadic appearances on RAW, as well as working as a producer backstage. He went into minor detail about what he is doing now and says that he is not close to retiring.

"The Sanity gimmick didn't work on TV. The other two guys went back to NXT and I was asked to go to Monday Night RAW. Right now, it's a holding pattern for me," Young said. "I can say that I'm very well taken care of. I'm very respected in the circles there. I did some producing. I was asked to come do some producing, so I did 16 weeks of that. I liked it, but I'm not ready to retire. I'm lucky. I've avoided getting hurt lots of times. I've definitely been injured. Wrestled with a broken ankle before. Wrestled with a broken wrist, broken fingers, sprains, pulls and all that, but I've never missed a show ever in 20 years."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit NewsChannel 5 with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.